RNC Chairman’s Race 2009

by LukeAmerica2020After another major party loss, Republican National Committee chairman Mike Duncan is considering a run for re-election. But, he’ll face a slate of better known potential candidates. The RNC will elect its new chair at the party’s winter meeting in DC just after the inauguration.

According to the Washington Times today (2008-11-11) on the chairmanship race for the Republican National Committee:

A behind-the-scenes battle to take the reins of the Republican National Committee is taking off between former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele.

Neither man will acknowledge his interest in the post, but Republicans close to each are burning up the phone lines and firing off e-mails to fellow party members in an effort to oust RNC Chairman Mike Duncan in the wake of the second consecutive drubbing of Republican candidates at the polls.

A bevy of backers for each man, neither of whom is an RNC member, say the committee needs a leader who can formulate a counter-agenda to President-elect Barack Obama’s administration and articulate it on the national stage.

Michael Steele would be my pick for the Republican National Committee Chairman. He draws additional attention because he is a rare thing: an elected black Republican. There are thousands of elected black Democrats holding various offices around the country, including several dozen members of Congress. By contrast, there are just 59 black Republicans holding any office requiring a partisan election in the United States, according to a new study by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. Steele is one of them — and, as a lieutenant governor who must win statewide, he is, in a way, the highest ranking.

Steele is a rock-ribbed conservative and he is doing everything he can to help the GOP attract black votes. The national GOP may soon discover something Maryland conservatives have known for years: Michael Steele is a terrible thing to waste.